Imposition Of National Assembly Leadership Will Fail, New Minimum Wage Will Cause Chaos — Tony Momoh

A former Minister of
Information, Prince Tony Momoh, has expressed fears that the new N30,000
minimum wage, signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 18, would
lead to chaos.

Momoh, who is also a
chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), made the statement while
addressing newsmen on Friday in Abuja as part of activities to mark his 80th
birthday.

According to him, while
he is happy over the new wage, he holds the view that it will lead to a
situation where many states will not be able to pay and this will lead to
industrial unrest and strikes.

He said: “Minimum wage is
not a living wage.

“My prediction is that
the N30,000 minimum wage will cause chaos because many state governments that
were paying N7,500 before N18,000 was introduced could not pay then.

“A lot of them are
currently finding it difficult to pay N18,000 now.

“They are already saying
they can’t pay and this will lead to strikes.

“When that happens, the
nation is in trouble.

“The N30,000 minimum wage
is not a living wage.

“What is the percentage
of the workers in Nigeria that are entitled to the N30,000 minimum wage?

“What is the percentage
of the public servants compared to the percentage of the entire working
population in Nigeria?”

Momoh, who is also a
lawyer, equally spoke on the pronouncement the Code of Conduct Tribunal on the
former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

He said that the argument
of some lawyers that Onnoghen shouldn’t have been taken to the CCT was not
tenable, arguing that such lawyers didn’t know what they were talking about.

He said: “I don’t believe
that it is a case of witch-hunt.

“I advised him (Onnoghen)
to resign when the case started.

“That would have saved
him from the embarrassment.”

Momoh said the CCT and
the Code of Conduct Bureau, established by part one of the fifth schedule of
the constitution, had powers to deal with sitting presidents and governors.

He said: “Part two deals
with those who are subjected to its jurisdiction, which is the President,
Vice-President, CJN, down to councillors.

“The CCT is a
disciplinary body.

“Onnoghen is a public
servant before he became the CJN.

“His case was directed to
the Code of Conduct Bureau, which transferred it to CCT.”

Also speaking on the
permutation about the composition of the leadership position for the 9th
National Assembly, Momoh said the reliance of the APC on party supremacy to
impose its candidates would not work.

He said claims of party
supremacy could only be effective in a parliamentary not presidential system of
government because the political party with the majority would always form the
government in the former.

Momoh recalled that since
1999, efforts by political parties to impose their candidates on the nation’s
parliament had always been resisted by federal lawmakers.

He added that the
National Assembly had its own personality that it always protected in spite of
political party differences, adding that party’s choice could only succeed if
there was cooperation and not by imposition.

He said: “In 1999, Evans
Enwerem was not the choice of the senators.

“They wanted Chuba Okadigbo.

“So, Enwerem did not last
when he emerged.

“Also in 2015, the party
wanted Femi Gbajabiamila, but Yakubu Dogara got it.

“Since 1999, there have
always been problems between the legislators and the party’s candidates.

“The legislators come together
to pursue common interests and party supremacy is obviously not one of them.

“In the parliamentary
system, the party with the majority will dominate leadership positions in the
parliament.

“The prime minister is
also a member of the parliament.”

The former minister also
stressed the need for restructuring of Nigeria as a way of ensuring good
governance in the country, arguing that Nigeria was too top heavy in
administering governance.

Momoh said that the
country needed to decongest the political space, adding that the National
Assembly made law in 93 areas comprising the exclusive and concurrence lists.

He said: “In federations
worldwide, we don’t need more than 18.

“The rest should go to
regions.

“They know what to do
with it.

“The Senate will become
the only lawmaking arm of the federation, while the House of Representatives
should go to the regions and be making laws for their people.

“When this happens,
economic deregulation is automatic because everybody will contribute to run the
centre.”

Momoh advised media
practitioners to acquire necessary knowledge from the constitution of the
country for them to effectively perform their roles as watchdogs to government
and to enlighten the citizens.

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